spittle

A recent biog of Augustus speculated that Livia poisoned him (I, Claudius revisted) but, and here's the novel twist, he was aware of the deed all along! The theory went that He and Livia were partners in his assisted suicide! Either that or Augustus knew Livia was murdering him but went along with it for reasons of posterity (?!). Does anyone accept that even the author of this book believed his own work? It was a cynical attempt to re-write history but unlike the revisionist conjecture of serious historians works, it was based on the flimsiest of evidence connected by huge leaps of faith. Whenever Roman history becomes popular to a wider audience, due to TVs ROME or Cinema's GLADIATOR, several second rate books appear to cash in. It is the same with Mob stuff. There are dozens of pseudo-factual organised crime titles from the early to mid 70s. Timed simply to jump on the GODFATHER band wagon.

Sonic. The plug for your book would be more successful if forum readers knew your name. Unless, of course, you have it published under the pen name 'Sonic'?

A.C. I have never visited Segedunum! A terrible confession for a UNRV member who actually lived in Newcastle and still regularly visits. I'll try to make my way there before the meet.

"The Golden Age". "The Five Good Emperors" Thats what I'm talking about. I have heard these periods mentioned but have no idea when they were, why they were 'golden/good'. By reading a few books I learned the causes of the Republic gradually outgrowing itself and becoming the Principate. Now I'll read the books suggested by y'all and try to understand how the Principate evolved over the half millenium (or so) before the decline and fall.

'ius imago' The priviledge of the nobility to preserve wax deathmasks of their ancestors and display them at funerals.

So what were the reasons for going from Sweden to the Black Sea region? How long had they been left Sweden? How long had they lived in the Black Sea region/ And that brings us back to the original question concerning their migration from the Black Sea and the Sack of Rome.

The Goths seem to have been part of a greater movement; and once we answer the Goths, we ask ourselves: what caused the Huns to move? According to Terry Jones (Monty Python) The Barbarians the wave of migrations was started by rampaging Mongols who displaced Huns who dislaced OstroGoths who displaced VisiGoths........ I take Terry Jones' theories lightly. He is so determined to be revisionist that he sometimes ignores the obvious in order to push any Anti-Roman idea.

"Dry run" The last few posts make me wonder whether practising rowing on the beach, or similar activity, is the origin of the phrase 'dry run'.

Philip of Macedon? Alexander the Greats father?

Indeed - and you might have to pick a version of Ancient Greek. I struggled for a year with Thucydides and then discovered that most of the texts I needed were in demotic Greek anyway. As someone who still teaches ancient history (albeit over the internet) I've found one of the best ways to encourage discussion is to put people into the situations faced by ancient protagonists and ask what they would do. e.g. 'Where did Pompey go wrong? Come up with a strategy that would have beaten Caesar in Greece' works better than 'Discuss the Pharsalus campaign'. A colleague reports a discussion becoming well over-heated on the topic 'Were the Gracchi social reformers or socialists?' But going back to languages, apart from the advantages of being able to read Mommsen and Herder (for example) in the original, someone who studied with me at university now has a well-paid job in the EU, not because of the topic of his thesis, but on the strength of the languages he acquired in order to be able to write it. What different versions of Ancient Greek are there? Are they relevant to different periods, different area's, a little of both? I checked Latin on myngle and the tutor has adviised students who want to learn 'church latin' to take different courses to those hoping to read Ancient Roman Texts. Can I infer from this that Latin has continued to evolve upto and including modern times?

I would wonder if these students were in the right place if they cannot even summon enough enthusiasm to offer comments and join in discussions. After years of workplace chat about beer and football I loved the lively debate of the classroom. Surely thats what its all about? As for learning languages I have just started Polish lessons and I am taking one to one lessons using a skype connection and headset. The possibilities that technology provide are amazing. I enlisted on a beginners class at a local college but it was cancelled due to lack of interest at the last minute so I had to look for other ways of learning. If your a little more confident you can meet study partners at myhappyplanet.com Say your a native English speaker and you want to learn German you'll meet a German wanting to learn English and help each other out. I'm not sure how successful you'd be with Ancient Greek or Latin but its worth a try.

Finger bones are quite popular at the moment. I believe they come in boxes of ten... You have been watching BLACKADDER THE FIRST! I clearly remember that very line in the episode where Edmund was made Arch-Bishop of Canterbury On a slightly more serious note....every king. prince, duke, aristocrat and knight in Europe appears to have believed they owned a piece of the 'true cross'. was Jesus nailed to a crucifix roughly the same size as the angel of the north?

"...reverse engineered Cartiginian galleys" That sounds so much better than the way I attempted to explain it! What years did this take place in? was I way out with 3rd cantury BCE?

I drive up to my girlfriends in Newcastle every other weekend so I'd like to meet up with you all. Unless I can swap a shift I'll be working the night of Friday 25th and driving up when it ends at 6a.m. Saturday morning. The house I used to share with my girlfriend (the one she still lives in) is in Benwell, possibly the roughest estate in Newcastle! Despite this there are two Roman shrines within a three minute walk. The original statues have been taken to museums and replaced with replica's but the rest of the stonework is 'Authentic Legionaire'. Before moving to Newcastle we lived in South Shields where a Roman fort has been reconstructed and archeological work continues around it. Adam Hart-Davis filmed some of 'What Did the Romans Do For Us?' from there.

If you want to compare Carthage and Romes naval abilities it may be interesting to point out that when Rome was a minor power, and Carthage was far more important, they came to blows over Sicily. At this point of history (I'm guessing 3rd century BCE) Carthage had a type of production line for making ships. The parts were prefabricated and came with symbols to show what they were (a lot like Ikea flat pack furniture). One of these Carthaginian ships was crashed onto Roman land and the Romans were essentially given the entire plans for building ships of their own. As for Hannibals reasons for marching around the Alps and entering Italy from the north.....It was so unexpected that the Romans never even thought to protect their northern borders to any great extent.

Herge's adventures de twin twin? The programme I watched was about Kerala. It said for years it was thought impossible that Thomas could have made it there in the time (and times) suggested. Then new evidenCe showed that a thriving trade existed between the Holy Land and Kerala during this period of history and a Jewish trading colony had been established there for centuries. What is the Apocrypha?

I have read a few books concerning the late Republic, Caesar, Augustus and the Julio-Claudian Emperors. I am aware of several titles regarding The Fall of the Western Empire. What I am less sure about is what book/s will provide concise information detailing the four centuries (or so) between these two cataclysmic Roman era's. There are dozens of individual biography's and many titles dealing with specific characters and events. What I hope to do is select a few books that will take me from Nero's suicide to the Goths sacking Rome. As tempted as I am to dive straight into The Decline and Fall titles I feel I should educate myself a little about the lesser known times inbetween the usual area's and era's. Suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I think we watched the same programme. Didn't someone state that there was more evidense of Thomas being in South Western India than there was evidense of Paul ever stepping foot in Rome?

The more this thread progresses the less certain I am about the theories. If, occasionally, posters could summarize their arguments I would be appreciative. The Celts and Angles/Saxons seem to overlap on occasion. A short description of their actual differences would be helpful.

Certainly - the book which introduced me to this research is 'The Origins of the British' by Stephen Oppenheimer ISBN 978-1-84529-482-3. The bibliography cites other authors whose works support the theories under discussion, such as Barry Cunliffe and Colin Renfrew. I find the theories under discussion compelling for a number of reasons. I have always found the 'British wipe-out theory' unrealistic even since childhood - enduring pre-saxon names such as Kent (Cantiacii) and Lincoln (Lindum Colonia) are direct evidence against it. Furthermore, I have always recognised that Belgae and other lowland Brits/northern Gauls are described as looking like Germans by primary sources, whereas modern Celtic speakers do not. These, and many other things, have never satisfactorily been explained by the traditional theory, whereas (to me at least) these theories actually explain ALL this. Oppenheimer's 'The Origins of the British' gets some very sketchy reviews on Amazon, so I'll order it from the library before I spend my hard earned cash on a copy. The hardback starts at

Northern Neil, Can you post the actual title and full name of the author of materials relating to this discussion? Thanks in advance, Paul.

So learn Latin, Greek, German and French. Earn a Degree followed by a Masters. Then clear your schedule for the next eight years? Is that all? I loved six form. Loads of discussion and interaction with enthusiastic and interesting lecturers and students. My friends said it was totally different after they progressed to Uni. No discussion, just sat listening to the lecturer, recording his/her voice on a dictaphone and becoming rapidly disillusiioned with it all. Does this sound like a bad example of a graduate course or the normal situation?

Thanks, M.P.C, Very interesting interview. Although I'd wager you don't share Goldworthy's opinions on G.G.C....? If you (or anyone else) could post more interviews or mini lectures they would be much appreciated.

Is there any contemporary source that mentions Druids in other Germanic area's of continental Europe? I am wondering if pre- and early Roman Britain had similar spiritual system to any other Anglo-Saxon area's (I always regard the Druids as 'Celtic' and wonder if other are's had Celts displaced by Germanics). Have any mass graves of celts been found dating from the time of the speculated Anglo-Saxon invasion? I know that absense of proof is not proof of absense but a total lack of evidence in the archeological record must be a strong indicator that large scale wars never took place. There are places linked to Celts as far east as Galicia in Poland (this is my limited knowledge, I'm sure some forum members could mention places even further away). What is the accepted history of Celtic displacement/'Barbarian' migration (if any) in these area's? This is turning into a fascinating thread. So far I'm leaning to 'Celts came from central European Basque stock (why no linguistic connection to the isolate Euskera?)' and Anglo-saxons came from North Western germanics (already accepted fact). What I am not understanding is the extent of these two waves and the time frame of the Celtic arrivals, reasons for their migration.... And the timeframe of the pre-Roman Germanic arrivals.

So the name Cleopatra never became a title (even by assocoation) in the same way that the name Caesar became a title? I had made the same assumption as Segesten due to reading references to the female royals of Egypt as 'the Cleopatra's'.